Everyone is tired...So what?
This evening I sat for a moment and got comfortable in my feeling of being tired, too tired even. Too tired to do anything else right now so I deserve a nap kind of tired. Then I posed a very simple question to myself: but have you done everything you need to get done today? The feeling of conviction at my own internal answer was tangible. After working what would constitute a full day at the office I was uncomfortable, and I slipped into the “I’m tired” mentality. Upon realization of my self derived excuse, I honestly started to get mad at myself. "Too tired? TOO TIRED!?" Sure my energy level was down but my thinking was still clear, no blurred vision, my motor skills were still perfectly functional, and I didn’t have any inkling of my body actually shutting down. But "too tired"? How could I be too tired now but head out to do some mixed martial arts training in about 90 minutes? How could I be too tired now but still think I was going to pull it together later to get my list of things done I needed to get done tonight before tomorrow begins at 06:00? I own a business. I am both a father and a husband. I lift five days per week and train in MMA three to four days per week. I don’t have the luxury of being tired.
My thoughts this evening leads me to this: how many people each day allow excused like being “too tired” to obstruct their day’s plan? Admittedly, that excuse is a tempting mistress. Consider how many things get put off, from immediate responsibilities to long term goals, and how long you allow these things to either pile up or you abandoned entirely. My new metric for considering if I am truly tired or not has to become nothing less than a loss of fine motor skills, blurred vision, and incoherent thought processes. Anything short of this I feel I am leaving too much on the table, and where I find myself currently in life I can't afford to waste time under the guise of being tired.
I now view this the same way I look at the difference between being hurt and being injured. My high school wrestling coach made a very clear distinction between the two. He said "you can wrestle hurt, but if you are truly injured you need to address that with veracity so that you can get back on the mat, because an injured wrestler doesn’t wrestle". An injured wrestler can’t compete and most certainly can’t win. So to that end I drop the excuses, ditch the pity-party, and get my ass back to work, it's as simple as that.
6 comments
I want the so what tee shirt too!
Where’s the Tshirts
So where is this shirt “So What” ? Did I miss it? I want that one !!
I literally say that all the time. Just today to my business partner. “I don’t have the luxury of being tired”. When I saw the email with that title on it I said oh I’m buying this shirt right now. So…….. haha put that on a shirt brotha and take my damn money. Good on you btw. Keep pushing till there’s nothing left in your way
Just what I needed to hear……..
Damn right, and this is awesome! Thank you for sharing! I shared on Twitter (And please give H a huge hug from me!)